dmreedy

9 ms·

31.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Yeah, that sounds right to me; like, "Sure that , but more importantly, this "?
32.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I never got too too far into the language, so I absolutely believe there are more layers and variances to the meaning than the basic glosses I learned! But that feels like it fits in the counterpoint/point kind of framework, I think? J
33.
by dmreedy 3y ago
On the subject of grammar, Greek grammar (ancient? I assume this one has carried into modernity) has a handy construction I like in the form of the particles μέν and δέ, used to highlight counterpoint/point through something closer to
34.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Indeed. For a different angle on the nuance, you will often see the gerundive translated as "worthy of". Miranda, worthy of beholding. Amanda, worthy of love.
35.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I agree wholeheartedly, and perhaps misunderstood your frustrated sarcasm
36.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Facts measured by whom, to what end, and how far? This is a single metric. Number goes up. What other numbers went up? What numbers went down? What do these directions mean? It does seem like fewer child deaths is a good thing. It does seem
37.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Neither were the purported child sacrifices dying en masse in Aztec civilization. We absolutely celebrate the slow death of the poor as a necessary sacrifice in the face of economic growth and dividends. Just not always in the same brea
38.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I am comparing child sacrifice to the externalities of a dividends-driven system. We may not kill our children with knives, but we certainly let them starve.
39.
by dmreedy 3y ago
You're exactly right; all I mean to say is, consider that exact point through the lens of how we cull our own weak, and the perceived necessity of it.
40.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Yep that's sort of what I mean. Cruelty is something inflicted on the enemy and the other. Cruelty inflicted on the citizen is systematized or justified, and does not read as cruelty in the "view from within". And especially
41.
by dmreedy 3y ago
No societal consensus believes itself to be cruel and violent and chaotic. Every societal consensus believes itself to be the fountain of net progress. And every societal consensus looks on its predecessors and peers as hairy barbarians.
42.
by dmreedy 3y ago
> Capitalism is supposed to help the people via efficient allocation of resources, not make money for a select few. I am far from convinced this is even a goal of capitalism, much less the goal. There is a reason it trends towards mo
43.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Yes, I agree completely. Though I can imagine a counter argument from a technologist/futurist positing that the incentive to automate in part comes from that merciless system of survival. The modern Luddite, I think, doesn't nec
44.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Google search replaced, or dramatically reduced, an entire industry of skilled labor around research and library sciences. There's a great old Hepburn/Tracey movie, Desk Set , that is a playful treatment of this. The concern is a
45.
by dmreedy 3y ago
And earlier even, though laudanum was a tincture instead of a pill. Society has for a long time felt that women's "hysterics" have warranted "medicating".
46.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Because unrealistic representation of timelines can sound like a non-technical manager eager to claim credit for arduous research and mechanical work they don't seem to understand enough to give accurate forecasts for, just as much it
47.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Honestly I'm not even sure they're going to do more than unceremoniously kill Thufir off in the background. But it's possible that they took the first movie as a chance to explore Arrakis, and will take the second to explore
48.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Ah, yes, fair enough. Though to be fair there is of course a transition from "Occupied" to "Occupier" as the story progresses. Which I think is part of that broader curiosity about the origins of zealotry, and its vector
49.
by dmreedy 3y ago
The large majority of the HN audience wouldn't participate in social media? I'm not sure what dividing line you're trying to draw here. Communication is always in part a game of references. They are a form of compression of l
50.
by dmreedy 3y ago
They left out pretty much the entirety of the Butlerian Jihad and Orange Catholicism as themes motivating the world. Mentats are barely discussed even though they are present. And yeah, no dinner scene, and no conservatory, as far as story
51.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I don't necessarily disagree with the position that compromises were made, but > better off as crusaders rather than jihadis At the risk of sounding edgy, I'm not sure I see the distinction between these two things? My impressi
52.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I think the one we've seen so far had to pick and choose which pieces of the broader tangle of themes to engage with, by necessity of the constraints of the medium. But it did a very, very good job taking a movie-formattable slice out
53.
by dmreedy 3y ago
> To become a full-fledged Fremen, and lead them in a counterattack that will avenge his fallen family and defeat the powers corrupting the galaxy (Emphasis mine.) This is a very funny summary. I of course understand the nature of medi
54.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Like many pieces of modern internet culture, this image has been detached from its real source and context, and propagated memetically through the various social media platforms.
55.
by dmreedy 3y ago
The mindset that leads an empire to pilfer its territories and conquests is a bit more complicated than some lack of artisanship or productive culture back home, to meet some perceived economic demand. I think it's much more closer (th
56.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Indeed. As the line goes: the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. Equally human, equally logical, but with different priors, different axioms, different base truths to reason from. > Maybe they didn't really
57.
by dmreedy 3y ago
Yep. There is no prior more frequently unexamined, I think, than the definition of the word "true". Though the definition of the word "good" has gotta be a close second.
58.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I'm not sure I understand the comparison. The Manhattan project was an exploration into a fundamental (and, without trying to sound ungenerous, a relatively simple) property of physics, put towards a relatively simple task. The laws of
59.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I was thinking about this the other day as my family was watching the Obi Wan TV show. Darth Vader is in it, and he's a composite of I think only two actors this time; Hayden Christensen doing the physical performance, and a James Earl
60.
by dmreedy 3y ago
I am fascinated by this phenomenon, and the double-edged sword that metaphors are. On the one hand they're jargon used as short hand to technical concepts understood well by domain experts. And the concision they afford can lead to de

More ›